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I can’t believe nobody has done this list yet. I mean, there is one about names, one about time and many others on other topics, but not one about languages yet (except one honorable mention that comes close). So, here’s my attempt to list all the misconceptions and prejudices I’ve come across in the course of my long and illustrious career in software localisation and language technology. Enjoy – and send me your own ones!

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[-] TrickDacy@lemmy.world 17 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

Most of these just seem like basic educational issues except this one imo:

Every language has words for yes and no.

I want to see more than like 1 or 2 counterexamples. I'm pretty interested in linguistics on an amateur level. Don't believe I've heard of that one before now.

edit: in retrospect I do think I remember hearing this about Irish and Latin and some older languages. Interesting to know there are so many. I know the theory that language is related to thought patterns is semi-debunked, but I can't help but think that things like this indicate something about the cultures associated with a language.

[-] Jezza@sh.itjust.works 31 points 2 days ago

My wife is Vietnamese, so I have a basic grasp of it, but they don't really have a word for yes.
The verb itself is used to answer the question.
Want something to drink? Drink. Want to go to the park? Go.

They have a word for no, but as you can probably ascertain, it's only for the negative.

[-] Colloidal@programming.dev 4 points 2 days ago

Can they answer “not no”?

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this post was submitted on 06 Mar 2025
127 points (100.0% liked)

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